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Building your own frame

Dino I guess I need to do some research and find Chester. It's ashame he did not find his place on this forum.
 
Thats whats great about this forum is that i get to here about people that was a icon/? to hot rods that i did not even know about and the stories that people have to tell about them.
 
The guy that runs the "How to Build a T bucket" site (John, I think) probably has a line on getting a hold of Chester since he's selling the book for him on the internet. He used to be a sponsor here last year but disappeared.
 
I received an email from John wanting to know how I liked Chesters book, I responded and told him he needs to log on here. Maybe will maybe won't we will see.
 
ChestersAlive said:
There are a lot of good frame plans out there. The frame is the backbone of your roadster, everything directly or indirectly attaches to it. It is NOT a place to learn how to weld. It should be built by a competent, professsional welder who knows what rod to use, heat range, weld penetration etc. Learn on the brackets etc.It should be built in a jig or possibly on a perfect flat floor.You're better off buying a pre-assembled frame from a well-known company and be safe. Anyone can grind off the chickens--t and make it look good but how good is their penetration? Did they use the right rod or something they found in a yard sale? 80 MPH on a freeway between two semis is no place to find out the man who built your frame is a shoe-salesman who welds in his garage with a $100 mig-welder at night for a little extra money.
In buying a frame ask the company if they use 1 1/2" X 3" tubing or 2" X 3" tubing. Look close at the roadsters you see in a meet and decide which you'd rather have. A 1 1/2"er gives my the willys just to look at it. ChestersAlive
Click to expand...
Chester,
I'm glad to hear from you. Just want to let you know I built my T-Bucket using your first book "How to Build a T-Bucket for Under $3,000". Well it cost me a bit more than that, because I finished it in 2010, a few years after your book came out. The main thing is that I did it. I followed all your instructions, I built my own frame using 2 x 3, 3/16" wall tubing. I took a welding class at the college and asked lot's of questions to our welding foreman at work. I made all the brackets too and welded them on. I have about 3,000 miles on the bucket now. It drives great. I even made the pickup box like yours, using a 49 Chevy box with a 1" square tubing frame. You really encouraged me with statements like "you can do it, just take your time". It was really a fun project, and my wife helped nearly every night. She would grind the brackets smooth after I torch cut them. She had as much fun as I did!
 
ChestersAlive said:
There are a lot of good frame plans out there. The frame is the backbone of your roadster, everything directly or indirectly attaches to it. It is NOT a place to learn how to weld. It should be built by a competent, professsional welder who knows what rod to use, heat range, weld penetration etc. Learn on the brackets etc.It should be built in a jig or possibly on a perfect flat floor.You're better off buying a pre-assembled frame from a well-known company and be safe. Anyone can grind off the chickens--t and make it look good but how good is their penetration? Did they use the right rod or something they found in a yard sale? 80 MPH on a freeway between two semis is no place to find out the man who built your frame is a shoe-salesman who welds in his garage with a $100 mig-welder at night for a little extra money.
In buying a frame ask the company if they use 1 1/2" X 3" tubing or 2" X 3" tubing. Look close at the roadsters you see in a meet and decide which you'd rather have. A 1 1/2"er gives my the willys just to look at it. ChestersAlive
Click to expand...
Chester,
I replied earlier about building my T-Bucket using your book. If you e-mail me, I'll send you some pictures of how it turned out. bill.froyen@cat.com
Thanks - Olds23
 
I LIKE TO USE 2"X3" TUBING FOR A T BUCKET FRAMES . IT HAS A NICE ROUNDED EDGES NOT SQ CORNERS LIKE THE 1 1/2"X3" TUBING . L@@K BETTER WHEN THE CHASSIS IS PAINTED. MY FIRST T BUCKET. I USED A FRAME THAT KIRBY(OL SKINHEAD) BUILT. HE USED 2"X3" TUBE
 
I also got this message in my email today. it finally sparked me to buy the ebook and it was money well spent. I cant say i agree with everything but it sure is informative. I hope Chester works everything out and finds his way back to the garage soon.
 
Freddyroc said:
Where would you guys recommend buying a frame from?
Click to expand...

Wintec would be close to you if you wanted to save a couple of bucks on shipping. You can look at their site at the top of the page as well as RPM, CCR and Spirit. All of which would be top notch and help support this site as well as hobby.
 
jimbo01 said:
Wintec would be close to you if you wanted to save a couple of bucks on shipping. You can look at their site at the top of the page as well as RPM, CCR and Spirit. All of which would be top notch and help support this site as well as hobby.
Click to expand...


THANKS, Appreciate it. By the way Nice work, i tried commenting however it wouldn't let me. Again thank you.
 
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